Blonde Eyebrow Routine &Threading Experience

WARNING: Unedited, painfully close close-ups of my face will be shown in this post. If you are sensitive to skin redness, fine lines and giant pores, look away now... Just being real here, people.

Disturbing isn't it? These photos show first hand, the struggle that us fair skinned, blonde haired girls must go through every day in the battle against our own eyebrows. Sparse, shapeless and ginger toned, my eyebrows have always been a major hassle to deal with as they refused to cooperate with me. (Why can't you just be thick, dark and nicely arched, is that too much to ask for?) In fact, that's a lie, because until the age of about seventeen, I was totally unaware of the awesome power eyebrows have to completely frame and define your face. I wish I'd known sooner what a life changing event getting them threaded and tinted would be, so I could have avoided looking like essentially an egg with a smiley face drawn on it throughout high school. Ahhh, good times...

So, let's take a look at what I'm naturally working with, sort of.

The skin is shiny because it's covered in Vaseline!

I say sort of because above is a photo of my eyebrows after they've been shaped through a technique called threading. Threading is and Indian method of hair removal, where a cotton or polyester thread is twisted and rolled over areas of hair, removing them from the root in straight lines. Very similar to tweezing, but it removes many hairs at once, and the thread is used to create sharp, defined lines - perfect for brows. Most people think threading is better than waxing as it doesn't rip or burn the skin and, supposedly, doesn't hurt as much. You must go to a professional to get your brows threaded or waxed, 'cos believe me girls, eyebrows aren't something you want to take a chance with. We don't want to end up with a wonky nineties pencil thin brow, now do we? I go to a lovely lady called Sheri, and frankly, I wouldn't let anyone else touch my brows because she works complete miracles. All of Sheri's info will be listed below if you're in need of a great Beautician.
To begin with, Sheri finds (or creates) an arch in my brows, which are naturally very straight, and then twists the thread using her fingers and teeth (it's pretty awesome to watch actually) to remove any hair outside of the shape she wants them to be. Does it hurt? Only a tiny bit, every time I go it gets less and less painful, and no, I'm not just saying that! Truth be told, I hardly feel it anymore and a good brow consultant will tell you to gently stretch the skin above the brow and place your other hand over your eye, which will reduce the pain. It's all over in less than 60 seconds anyway!

Next, Sheri then covers the skin around the brows in Vasaline, to stop the dye from bleeding outwards and tinting my entire forehead, and applies the brow tint in what first looks like a terrifyingly dark shade... The first time I ever had this applied, I took one look at my dye-covered sharpie brows and thought "Oh God, what have you done?" and then in typical British fashion continued to smile politely and pretend it was fine. You can imagine my relief when my brows ended up looking like this:

After two or three minutes, Sheri removes the dye and my otherwise non-existent brows are left looking like they've been filled in already. The picture above is now what my natural, unedited, brows look like without any makeup. Of course, I can apply brow pencil, powder or gel over the top and strengthen them even further if I wanted to, which becomes much easier now a perfect shape has been mapped out for me. For this I use the Soap & Glory Archery Pencil, an incredible dupe for the Anastasia Brow Wiz. Or, I can leave them as they are and have naturally soft but defined brows, that give my face structure on lazy days. The hairs are now much darker than before, and the dye has even picked up all the little fussy blonde fluff to make them appear thicker. Another great thing about getting your brows tinted, is that the dye leaves a slight tint on the skin underneath the brow, helping them to appear fuller, sharper and elongated.

So if you're scared of threading or dying your brows - don't be! It makes all the difference, especially for us fair girls, and halves the amount of time I spend on my brows in the morning. But like I said earlier, before you take the plunge, seek out a professional! Don't let your inner Cara Delevinge turn into Oscar the Grouch... Ask a friend with great brows where they get theirs done and don't go for a "home tint kit" unless you're confident you know what you're doing.
Leave your favourite brow products in the comment section below for me to read too - I'm always on the look out for brow enhancing products!

 

 

Sheri's Details

If you're in the Ipswich area and on the look out for a great Beautician, then check out the lovely Sheri's Facebook Page here and follow her on Twitter. Sheri has done my brows amazingly for years, and is also qualified in massage, waxing, nail art and other beauty treatments.